wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & SportsTeen's death consistent with hyperthermia

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – An 18-year-old from southern Indiana died Thursday night after working in the heat. Cody Johns of Sellersburg was doing landscaping when he started feeling sick.

Jefferson County deputy coroner Eddie Robinson said Johns was helping his stepfather with landscaping on a job at the Brownsboro Glen subdivision. Sometime after 4 p.m., Johns was taken to the Norton Immediate Care Center at Westport Village. Lyndon Fire and Rescue said they found Johns at the Immediate Care Center and immediately tried to cool him down.

"He was very, very hot to the touch," said Captain Richard Bliven of Lyndon Fire. "They immediately removed him from the back of the truck and tried to start some aggressive cooling measures by putting ice packs behind his neck, around his neck, under his arm pits."

Paul Whitfield, the owner of another lawn care service, was at the Westport Village. He saw Johns and could tell he was in bad shape.

"His chest was going in and out and it looked like he was having trouble breathing," said Whitfield. "He obviously didn't look well."

"They had mentioned that they had tried to seek treatment and that they were either denied treatment or told that they could not be provided treatment," said Bliven.

Steve Hester, the chief medical officer with Norton Hospital, said that isn't true.

"In no way did we not care for this patient," said Hester. "We had a situation where a family member came in and described some symptoms. At that point, the staff said it sounds like it's heat-related illness. Maybe the appropriate place for care would be an emergency department."

Norton Healthcare told us Friday afternoon that Johns never walked into the immediate care center at Westport, but said his stepfather did come inside and described the symptoms. The staff there told him to get Johns to a hospital. A Norton spokesman also said they don't use IVs (intravenous fluids) at the immediate care centers. He wanted to make it clear that Johns was never denied care.

Metro EMS took Johns to Norton Suburban Hospital, where he died just after 7 p.m. Robinson said Johns' death was consistent with hyperthermia.

Robinson said at one point, Johns' body temperature reached 110 degrees.

Those who knew the Sellersburg teen say they were shocked to hear of his death.

"He was a really nice guy," said Nate Bruner- who went to Silver Creek High School with Johns. "He was always in a good mood, always had a smile on his face. There was never a problem or anything like that."

Funeral arrangements are pending at Grayson Funeral Home in Charlestown, Indiana.

Reporter Katie Bauer also supplied information for this story.

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